Believeintheshield
by Beth's Beautiful Game
Summary: WWE Diva, Loriana Romdel is thrust into a storyline in which she is forced to face not only her former mentor and best friend, CM Punk, but also the dangerous Shield. And soon, as both her professional and personal lives spiral out of control, she realises that she needs to confront her own feelings - and fast, before people get hurt any more.
1. Chapter 1

_**(A/N): **I do not own anything except Loriana Romdel and her story (although God knows what I would give to own some of these wrestlers). I have written this with a lot of dedication and care, so please do not copy or disrespect it._

_That being said, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. I've already finished the next chapter so that should be uploading soon._

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**#Believeintheshield**

**By Beth Mae**

**Chapter One - _X is for Safety_**

_"The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for." ~ _Bob Marley_._

Two young blonde women were sat on crates in the backstage hallway, swinging their legs as they chatted about nothing in particular. Kaitlyn and Loriana Romdel were oblivious to the camera in their faces.

Loriana waved her hands about expressively as she spoke, "I mean, he s not even good-looking. That stupid lip ring just makes him look like an idiot. Ryback is way more deserving of the Championship. At least he s not an arrogant, stuck-up, disrespectful piece of -"

She stopped suddenly, looking out of the camera shot with a mixed look of surprise and disgust.

The camera zoomed out to reveal an angry CM Punk and Paul Heyman.

Kaitlyn looked between them and Loriana, feeling the tension. After chewing her lip for a second, she hopped off of the crate and waved her hand behind her, "I'll just go..." before walking away quickly and shooting an apologetic look to her friend.

Lori rolled her eyes back at her. She then raised an eyebrow at the WWE Champion of whom she had been talking about and waited for him to speak.

"Arrogant? Stuck-up? Disrespectful?" he repeated. Her face remained an icy mask. "I'm not disrespectful; it's everyone else who's disrespectful. It's them who don t give me what I deserve, and it's you who deserves to be disrespected. Because I'm not the one who sits around gossiping all day, and I'm not the one who goes around fluffing up my hair and batting my eyelids to get my own way. I've fought to get what I want, what I deserve, unlike you, Romdel. I'm lucky to get maybe two nights of sleep a week, whereas from what I've heard, you've been doing a whole lot more sleeping around."

Lori's eyes narrowed. For a moment, they just glared daggers at each other. Slowly, without disrupting the tension, Lori slid from the crate and took one step forward so that she was directly in front of the WWE Champion, despite having to crane her neck slightly.

"I think," she spoke with a voice as smooth, serene and sharp as ice, "That you're just jealous because the most action you've had for a year has been those sneaky snogs with AJ Lee... and even she preferred Daniel Bryan's scratchy beard to you. Chick Magnet Punk?" she snorted, "Any woman - let alone Diva - would rather kiss Ryback than you any day."

Punk's eyes narrowed this time. He leant down to her eye level, "I can have anything I want, including any woman - even you if I was willing to sink that low. Do you know why? Because I'm the best in the world."

There was a pause.

And then she slapped him.

Punk's eyes flashed. His hand clenched into a fist and in a second, it was raised.

Lori flinched, but the punch never came. She glanced at the fist beside her head.

Punk hissed, "I wouldn't touch a slut like you if you were the last woman on earth."

Before she could react, he had already turned and walked off. She watched him go with a clenched jaw before leaning back onto the crate, letting out an exhausted breath. She ran a hand through her hair as the cameras cut.

"That was intense! Good job, Lori. You should go get ready for your match," said the assistant writer.

"'K, thanks," she smiled as she headed for the locker room. As she turned the corner, she bumped into CM Punk again. This time he grinned, clapping her shoulder.

"Good work."

"Thanks, it was fun. Have you seen Eve anywhere? I need to go over some things for the match."

He shrugged, "She might be in the canteen. I meant to ask about that actually, you are ok with the GTS, right? Just in case."

"Yeah, course," she nodded. And then she smirked, "If you can hit it before I hit you with the Siren Screecher."

He mirrored her smirk but she missed it because all she saw was her hair in her face as he ruffled it, "That's optimistic, rookie."

Laughing, she hit his hand away, "You're lucky I need to get somewhere, otherwise I'd kick your arse right here and now."

He began to stroll away but made sure to call over his shoulder before leaving, "Luck is for losers, rookie."

"Then you're the loser, Punk!" she shouted back.

Whilst trying to sort out her hair, she headed in the opposite direction, towards the canteen.

The canteen was an average-sized room with a line of tables down one wall where various energy-filled foods were laid out. The rest of the space was filled with tables and chairs. Staff weaved between huddles of Superstars and Divas who stood or sat about, mingling and waiting for their segment on the show.

Lori spotted Eve Torres with a group of other Divas including Natalya and Alicia Fox.

"Hey, Lori," they greeted her as she approached them.

"Hi," she smiled, leaning against a table, "So Eve, who's starting up first?"

They planned until a runner scurried up to them and told them that they had five minutes before their match. They headed towards the curtains together and found the others already there.

Ryback greeted her with a quick nod but he was too busy warming-up to make any more of a fuss about it. Punk was wrapping tape around his wrists and Heyman was talking in a low and rushed voice to one of the production managers. Eve had started jogging on the spot so Lori began her pre-match ritual.

"Two minutes," someone announced.

She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a bright red lipstick which she slicked over her lips, but before putting it away, she drew a large X on the right side of her neck. She couldn't remember why she did it, or when she had started doing it; but she knew that if she didn't do it, she felt unsafe when she wrestled a match. She had not had time to draw it before one match a few years ago and she ended up breaking two ribs when a move went wrong. Despite knowing that it was just rubbish superstition, she didn't want to risk it again. Besides, it had become a part of her gimmick. It was usually hidden by her hair, but wrestling caused for a lot of hair flicking so it was visible a lot of the time.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

She lifted the bag over her head and handed it to Mark, a security guard, who nodded his promise to look after it.

"Four, three, two, one," the production manager signalled to the music man and Eve's music was the first to play. She went out.

CM Punk's music was next, and he and Heyman went out.

Then it was Loriana's turn. _Radioactive_ by Imagine Dragons began to play so she headed out and the crowd cheered like crazy. Her lips tugged up into a grin as she spun on the spot before bending down at the hips so that her long, layered, white-blonde hair fell over her face and then she flipped it back up. She strutted halfway down the ramp like it was a fashion show, and then stopped. She cocked her head to the side as her music stopped and Ryback's started.

When he came out to the stage, the crowd went absolutely nuts. He stood there, swinging his arms as if he was charging himself up, and then powered down the ramp. She joined him and they entered the ring simultaneously, glaring at Punk and Eve the entire time.

Due to Punk wimping out about facing Ryback, Lori and Eve started the bout off. They circled each other before locking up. Eve had the upperhand first when she kicked Lori in the stomach, but Lori soon turned that around by spearing her opponent into the ropes where she fell through to the mats. Grabbing the top rope, Lori hoisted herself up onto it and pounced off like a panther, dropping her elbow onto the Diva's Champion below. She then grabbed her hair and pushed her back into the ring.

Just as she began to climb back in herself, a boot hit her in the face and she staggered back onto the announcer's desks, dazed. She had no doubt that it was Punk who had kicked her and that Heyman was yelling insults at her from nearby, but she also knew that the referee was counting her out and she needed to get back into the ring.

With the referee watching, she knew neither Punk nor Heyman could do her anymore harm so she managed to climb back through the ropes. Just as she got through, hands grabbed her hair roughly and lifted her to feet. She clawed at Eve's hands but it was useless. Eve dropped her to the mat face-first before tagging the WWE Champion in.

"Get up!" she heard him yell from above her and a kick hit her between the ribs. Groaning, she rolled away from him, onto her back. She could hear Ryback jumping about at the turnbuckle and knew that he would be stretching as far as possible so that she could make the tag.

She managed to haul herself to the nearest ropes and used them to help her stand up. The referee was counting - she needed to tag Ryback in. But first, she had something to deal with. She had made a bet earlier. Turning back to Punk, she suddenly grabbed the back of his head, leapt up and threw herself on her back, plunging his face into her knees as she went. He bounced backwards onto the mat from the shock of the Siren Screecher.

With this newfound momentum, she managed to get to her corner and smacked Ryback's hungry hand, tagging him in.

He charged at the floored Champion and began beating him within an inch of his life. Lori knew it was going to happen before it did because Heyman had been looking overly suspicious as he sneaked around the outside of the ring.

Suddenly, he had thrown a chair into the ring and CM Punk had his hands on it. Without thinking, Lori leapt over the ropes and flung herself at him, wrapping her hands around the cool steel and trying to yank it away from him. The referee realised what was going on and rang the bell, signifying a disqualification.

With a kick to the groin, she managed to free the chair from the Champion's grasp and chucked it outside of the ring. Unfortunately, Eve was waiting for her. As she straightened, a roundhouse kick came from nowhere and knocked her to the floor. Grabbing her ankle, Eve wrapped her leg around it and dropped to the floor herself, tugging with all her strength at Lori's leg muscles. Pain bit at her as she breathed through gritted teeth, and then it was over.

But suddenly she was scooped from the floor and lifted high onto someone's shoulders: Punk's. Cringing, she waited for the impact of his knee in her face, but the impact never came.

Instead, she fell to the mat rather ungracefully. Using the ropes as leverage, she propped herself up to see that Ryback had speared CM Punk and was once again beating the hell out of him.

There was a flash of black and, out of nowhere, three men appeared. The same men who had beaten up Ryback the previous night at Survivor Series: Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. They surrounded Ryback like predators waiting to strike their prey. Ryback realised he was being stalked and stood up slowly, readying himself to attack. Lori pushed herself back into a corner and watched in horror as, as soon as Punk had escaped out of the way, the NXT three dived on Ryback and destroyed him.

She stared as they mercilessly kicked and punched and hit as if he was some kind of wild beast being beaten into meat. They tore at him as if they thirsted for his flesh. Trembling, she climbed to her feet. Eve was halfway down the ramp, heading for safety. Punk and Heyman were watching from outside the ring. No one was going to do anything to help Ryback. No one could do anything to help him... but she could try.

So, gathering her courage and strength, she took a run up and leapt onto the back of the nearest black-clad ambusher. She wrapped her legs around his waist and an arm around his neck, clawing at his eyes with her other hand. But he was stronger than her and staggered backwards, slamming her back into the turnbuckle so that the air was knocked out of her lungs and she was forced to let go.

He turned to her.

Struggling to breathe, she found herself staring up at the face of Dean Ambrose.

Slowly, he squatted down so that his eyes were directly in line with hers. Cringing, she tried to push further away from him, but she only succeeded in grinding her back against the turnbuckles. As he reached out with one hand, she bent her neck away, looking up to the ceiling, trying anything to not let him touch her.

But it didn't work. His hand reached into her hair. She flinched as his thumb grazed her jawbone and he brushed her hair away from her neck, sweeping it gently to the other side, revealing the X on her neck. Confused, terrified, she returned her eyes to his to find them so intense that her heart rapidly increased its pace. His thumb continued to caress her skin, trailing down the right side of her neck. His brows furrowed as he traced the red lines of the cross.

A huge boot hit the side of Ambrose's head, knocking him away from her. She looked up at her hero, Ryback, and breathed in relief. He rolled Ambrose out of the ring and she shakily got to her feet. She climbed through the ropes and jumped down to the floor, backing away from the chaos.

But her back hit someone. Taking a deep breath, she turned, and came face-to-face yet again with CM Punk. Without any hesitation, he lifted her up onto his shoulders and dropped her, bringing his knee to her face as she fell with a crash to the ground.

A hot pain filled her face as she lay stunned on the ground. From somewhere above her, Punk laughed. A crash sounded from the announcer's desks and she remembered how Ryback had been triple-powerbombed into them just last night. The Shield had overpowered him. Punk had won the fight.

But he had not won the war.

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_**(A/N): **If you see any grammar mistakes, I'm so sorry. The doc manager completely messed it up and I've tried to correct it all, but there might still be some left. _

_Don't forget to review, follow and favourite! I love hearing what you all think. What do you think of Lori? What about her relationship with Punk and Dean?_

_Love from Beth xx_


	2. Chapter 2

**_(A/N): _**_I do not own anything or anyone associated with WWE. However, I do own Loriana Romdel and her storyline, and you cannot have her because she is too awesome for you. Mwahahahaha! (PS. I mean that in a nice way. :-))_

_This chapter's very fun. Flirtflirtflirtflirtflirt. I hope you enjoy reading. A lot more comes to light in this chapter, and you should come away feeling like you've learnt something about the awesomeness that is Lori and her friends. Enjoy, my lovelies!_

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**Chapter Two – ****_Awkward Encounters_**

_"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." ~ _Helen Keller

"I think my nose is going to bruise now, Punk, you prat," Loriana scolded as she found him waiting for her at the airport later that night.

She had swapped her revealing ring gear for a much more comfortable outfit that consisted of jeans and an oversized knitted jumper. Her creamy blonde hair was thrown up into a messy bun and there was an abundance of makeup on her face, although she was definitely not ugly without it. Her shoulder bag was inside her athletics bag which was digging into the crook of her elbow whilst she wheeled a suitcase from the other hand.

Punk chuckled, "Well that's what you get for giving your mentor a Siren Screecher."

"You're not my mentor anymore; deal with -" her sentence was broken by a long yawn.

Punk put an arm around her shoulder and she gratefully leant into his side.

"Let's get on this plane. You can get a good couple hours' sleep there. The bus should be waiting."

Lori frowned, "You know, we're really lucky no media's caught us like this yet. All sorts of humiliating rumours would be all over the place."

"Well, all of our friends know they're not true, so why would we bother about what everyone else thinks?"

"Good point," she agreed as they made their way to the terminal.

But her mind wandered back to the segment in the ring. It had been pre-planned of course... mostly. Rollins, Reigns and Ambrose were supposed to attack Ryback and then turn on her and scare her away. That was all. Ambrose had just taken it a step further. Lori had been legitimately confused. It was all storyline, but there were some things you couldn't control. Her heartbeat had quickened. His eyes had been _so _intense. Either they were very good actors, or there actually had been something there.

She internally slapped herself. That was ridiculous. Ambrose had been acting; it was just Lori's stupid imagination getting carried away. It was all just storyline. There was nothing else to it.

Besides, she had no time for romance on the road. She had other things to think about – like her bruised nose.

On the plane, she sat in the aisle seat next to Punk. He had his headphones in so she didn't want to disturb him. Instead, she took a book from her hand luggage and began to read it.

She fell asleep. The next thing she knew, a voice drifted into her unconsciousness. It was a man and he was saying her name. She felt a hand on her arm. The light attacked her pupils as soon as she had forced her eyes open, and as soon as she was awake, she jumped slightly at who was standing in the aisle next to her: Dean Ambrose.

He was holding something out to her.

"Is this yours?"

It was her book. She nodded and took it, suddenly finding that words were incredibly hard to think of, let alone say.

"So you're one of those vampire girls? Are you into the whole Twilight thing?"

She looked at the book in her hands. It was one of the Sookie Stackhouse novels.

"Not really. These books are more mysteries than romances. And they're better than Twilight; they're..." she hesitated as she realised what she was about to say. She blushed, "Sexier."

"Sexier?" he repeated with a cheeky smile, "Well, I don't suppose that's difficult." He paused for a moment. In that moment, as he stood there next to her, she felt as if he was studying her, trying to sum her up or find all of her secrets just from her sleepy appearance. He continued, "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Jonathon Good." He held out his hand. She reached out to shake it and couldn't help but notice how warm his hands were as they clasped around hers.

"Loriana Romdel," she introduced herself.

"You and Colby know each other already, right?"

She nodded. She had actually dated Seth Rollins for a couple of months back in 2010 when they were both in FCW, but it became too difficult when she was called to the main roster so they broke up. It had not been particularly serious anyway.

"Cool, well, I've got to get to my seat. It was good meeting you."

"You too," she smiled as he left.

She looked down at her book. _Sexier. _There was a cough next to her. She turned to find CM Punk looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes widened innocently.

He shook his head with a chuckle and went back to his music.

Later that night, she left the hotel's en suite bathroom in her pyjamas to find her two best girl friends sitting on their beds, giggling over an iPhone. April beckoned her to join them, so she did, jumping on Celeste's bed and peering over her shoulder at the phone.

"What's going on?"

April grinned, "Derrick's texting Celeste again."

"Ooh, is he coming on to you?"

Celeste flashed a smile and held out the phone, "See for yourself."

Lori just had to glance at the flirty messages to know that he was definitely coming on to her. She handed the phone back as it vibrated, "Would you date him again?"

She shrugged, "Maybe. It'll be kinda difficult 'til he gets pushed to the main roster, though."

Lori nodded. That was something she understood.

April spoke as she began to get changed for bed, "I think you should. You were cute together."

"I think you should, too," Lori agreed, heading for her own bed, "He really adores you."

"Oh, shut up you two!" Celeste laughed, throwing a pillow at Lori's head, which she only just dodged, "What about you and Seth, hm? When are you two getting back together? After all, he _'adores' _you."

Lori shrugged, "Adored. I highly doubt he still does. I've hardly seen him in two years."

"You saw him today," April reminded her, "In fact, what was all that about, with Ambrose? Did Creative tell you to do that? You both looked..." she trailed off with a flapping motion of her hands that described everything and nothing.

"Yeah, that was weird," Celeste agreed, "I thought that if anything, Creative would've put you in some sort of storyline with Punk; not Ambrose. You two have way more chemistry."

Lori opened and closed her mouth in an excellent impression of a fish before exclaiming in a mixture of shock and horror, "No we don't! We're just friends."

Her closest girl friends glanced at each other before looking at her with fathomless expressions.

"We know; we just meant that you've known each other way longer and you're, like, closer than anyone. You could work off each other really well in the ring – like you did today."

"Oh."

"But seriously," April continued, climbing into her own bed as Celeste got another text from Derrick, "You and Seth were just as cute as Celeste and Derrick. You should get talking to him again."

When Lori finally fell asleep that night, she had a strange dream. She was Sookie Stackhouse from the novels she was reading, and Bill – the protagonist's vampire boyfriend – was Seth Rollins, whilst Eric – her other vampire love interest – was Dean Ambrose. And they were fighting over the book like it was a rope in a game of tug-of-war, and whoever was the winner would win her.

She was sure that the game was won somewhere in her dream, but by the time she woke up she had completely forgotten who it had been. So, just like every other day in a hotel with a swimming pool, she threw back her bed covers, put a bikini on under her skirt and vest top, and headed for a morning swim.

The pool was pretty much empty when she got there, which she put down to it being the early hours. But just as she was pulling her top over her head, she heard a low wolf whistle from behind her, making her jump.

Spinning around to the sound, she almost fell backwards into the pool, but managed to catch her balance just in time. Jonathon Good stood there in his swimming shorts, laughing at her.

Her heart refused to calm down. Feeling defensive, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned, "Are you stalking me or something?"

He raised his hands in mock surrender, taking a few easy steps closer to her glare, "Guilty."

She dropped out of her stance with a roll of her eyes, and turned away to step out of her maxi skirt, unaware that he was watching her do so with appreciation.

"Nice bikini."

She snorted, still with her back to him, "You might not be able to see them, Jonathon, but I do have eyes which are above my boobs, in my face, and a hell of a lot more attractive than my clothing – even if I do say so myself."

"Call me Jon."

"Jon," she repeated just a second before taking a giant leap, wrapping her arms around her knees and colliding with the water in a cannonball that covered Jon in the warm, chlorinated liquid.

Her drenched hair plastered against her face as she broke the surface and beamed up at him. He looked at her in wonder before shrugging, taking a run up and following her lead.

Narrowly missing her by inches, his cannonball sent even more water over the edges than hers had. When he made no return to the surface, she looked at the frothing water in confusion.

"Jon?" Suddenly, an arm swept her behind the knees, "Jon!" she screamed as the water submerged her fall.

Under the water, she saw his face grinning at her through the eerie sloshing liquid as he caught her back and lifted her bridal style out of the wet warmth.

"Git," she laughed, throwing a handful of water at his face, which he shook off like a dog.

"What was that? You want to go under again?"

"No!" she squealed, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck as he made to tip her upside-down into the water again, "You'll have to go down with me!"

It was at that moment, as they clung to each other, grinning like fools, that they became aware of just how close their faces were. And it wasn't like yesterday, when they had been being filmed on live television; it was completely different. Because they were alone, and they were happy, and they were soaking wet.

And his eyes weren't intense like they had been yesterday; they were dark. The bright blue of his irises ringed large black pupils that stared into hers and seemed to speak volumes of unspoken words. Through his pupils, she felt like she could read his entire story. And he might have been able to read hers...

...If it wasn't for the interruption.

"Jon, we're going for – Lori?"

Seth – Colby – stood in the doorway of the pool, fully dressed in jeans and a bright yellow t-shirt with a baseball cap. He stood there, taking in the scene in front of him with confusion written all over his face.

"We were just..." she tried to explain, but she couldn't because not even she knew what she had been doing. Had she really been flirting with the notoriously dangerous Dean Ambrose? Had she really been thinking those things about him, a man she had only met yesterday?

Sensing her discomfort, and feeling slightly awkward himself for some reason, Jon set Loriana down out of his arms. She swam a suitable distance away from him.

"I was doing lengths," she blurted out, confused as to why she was feeling so strange in the first place. She had broken up with Colby two years ago. Why did she feel so guilty?

"Yeah," Colby nodded, clearly not believing her but choosing not to call her out on the lie, he looked at Jon, "Anyway, Jon, Joe and I are going for breakfast soon, but if you're," he glanced at Lori, "Busy..."

"No, I'm coming," Jon said, swimming over to the side of the pool where he climbed out, seeming eager to get away from the awkward atmosphere. What had he been doing with Lori? Colby had been telling him just last night that he used to date her. That meant that she was off-limits.

But he couldn't help himself. He had just walked in on her getting into her bikini, and his impulses took over. He couldn't deny she was gorgeous, and clearly an amazing wrestler, but he needed to stop. He needed to leave her alone. Their relationship needed to stay professional otherwise both of their careers could end up spiralling down the drain. And he was not willing to risk that for anything. Not even one of the hottest chicks in the business.

So he left her alone in the pool, where she began to carry out the lengths she had planned to do in the first place.

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_**(A/N): **Don't forget to leave a review etc. They seriously make me the happiest person on the planet._

_BTW, I have a tumblr which mainly features wrestling-related bloggy things. Please don't be afraid to befriend me, I'm a very nice person. *hair flick*.  
bethy-mae10 .tumblr without the spaces._

_This story is also featured on my deviantart page, so if you feel like checking in on what's happening elsewhere (or also in this same where) in my creative mind, go take a peep and maybe drop me a note or comment or whatever. I don't bite I swear.  
starfashionista10 .deviantart also without the spaces._

_Love from Beth :-) xx_


	3. Chapter 3

_**(A/N): **__I do not own anything except Loriana Romdel and her story (although God knows what I would give to own some of these wrestlers). I have written this with a lot of dedication and care, so please do not copy or disrespect it._

_That being said, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it._

* * *

**Chapter Three – ****_A Poorly Planned Confrontation_**

_"I may be stupid, as you say, to believe in honour and friendship and loyalty without price. But these are virtues to be cherished, for without them we are no more than beasts roaming the land." ~ _David Gemmell, Shield of Thunder

The next day was the first of two consecutive days off, and Loriana planned to spend them how she spent every day off – in Chicago at the closest thing she had to a home. She and Punk got the plane immediately after helping out backstage at Smackdown.

When she first moved to America in 2009, she had been inexplicably drawn to Chicago, which was where she first met Punk and Colt Cabana. She had rented an apartment for about a year before the money got too much for her to handle and she was forced to face the prospect of moving back to England. It was then that Punk had offered her a place in his home instead. He had just bought a new place and decided that it was too big for just one person. Originally, he had refused payment, but she had felt like she was leeching off of him so she started paying rent anyway.

After two days of hanging with friends, watching films and basically relaxing their weary bones, they returned to the road for the house shows. Nothing interesting happened at the house shows. She just wrestled tag matches with Kaitlyn against Eve and Natalya. No Shield; just a clean win.

The time for Raw was fast approaching and Lori had just arrived at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana with April and Celeste.

"Have you spoken to him yet?" AJ asked as they strolled through the corridors towards the locker room.

She thought back to the situation in the swimming pool and tried to fight a blush.

"No," Lori replied. And it was only just a lie because the words she _had_ spoken to Colby had been few and he clearly hadn't wanted to speak back to her.

"Well, if you don't tonight, I swear I'm going to shove you both in a locker and lock it until strange, suspicious noises start -"

"Ok, April, I get it," Lori interrupted before things got too graphic for polite society.

"Good."

As they entered the locker room, Celeste suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth, "Lori! Don't you have a match later?"

"Yeah; why?"

"Do Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns have anything to do with it?"

She shrugged, "Probably, I'm not sure," her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Why?"

Celeste smirked, "No reason. Anyway, I've got to go... text Derrick. Later!"

And she was gone.

"Well, that was weird," Lori pondered to April who opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Celeste shouting from the outside corridor.

"AJ!"

"Sorry, got to go; don't want to get Kaitlyn angry – we won't like her when she's angry," and she was gone too.

Shaking her head in puzzlement, Lori began to change into her ring gear. She had a bad feeling about this.

It was interview time for The Shield and the faces of the locker room were gathered around one of the monitors in order to hear what they had to say. Lori stood with Kaitlyn, who had a weird secretive smile on her face. If the cameras weren't on, she would have nudged her in the side and demanded to be told what was so funny, but they were so she did not.

Michael Cole introduced the three of them who sat there looking so pleased with themselves for jumping an innocent man twice in two nights.

"Many people say that -"

"Many people?" Ambrose interrupted, "Who are these people? Michael, if you've got a question to ask us, just ask." He waited for a response.

"Ok," Cole said eventually, "Are you three working directly for WWE Champion, CM Punk?"

Ambrose shook his head, "Nope."

Cole waited as if he expected more. When no more came, he continued, slightly disconcerted, "Ok. So if you're not working for Punk, then why are you guys here?"

Seth spoke then, "That's the question, Michael, that's the question you should be asking. You see we sat down in NXT and we saw things clearly – crystal clear actually. You see, everybody around here has to answer to the likes of Vickie Guerrero and Booker T, and Vickie and Booker, they have to answer to the Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors ultimately has to answer to the WWE Universe – the almighty WWE Universe; people who like people like Loriana," he shook his head, "What is that Michael? What is that? It's a popularity contest.

"And that's not right; that's wrong, Michael. We saw things heading in the wrong direction. We stepped in and righted those wrongs. Michael, we are a shield from injustice in WWE."

"Alright, come on guys," Cole began, "There's no denying that everything you've done so far has benefited CM Punk."

Ambrose squirmed in his seat as Seth spoke again.

"Michael, it's coincidence. Happenstance; you ever heard of it?"

"It's not about benefiting Punk," Ambrose elaborated, "It's about right and wrong. CM Punk, the WWE Champion, was forced to defend his title in a triple threat match against two guys he'd already defeated. That's wrong. So we stepped in. If it had been Ryback or Cena, we'd have done the same thing. If Ryback was champion for three hundred and sixty-five days and Punk tried to ruin his party, we'd have intervened on Ryback's behalf. If Loriana was viciously verbally attacked by Punk after defending a title for three hundred and sixty-five days, we'd have stepped in to help her.

"Three hundred and sixty-five days of being champion in this era is a huge milestone. It should be celebrated, right? And instead, he got insulted and disrespected by a jealous woman who, for some inexplicable reason, everyone seems to love. And she should know that whilst we may not have hurt her last week, if she disrespects anyone who deserves respect again, we won't hold back. Loriana Romdel, we sent you a message last week. If you choose not to listen to it, then on your own head be it."

Cole turned to Reigns, "Er, Roman, I'd love to hear your take on all this."

Reigns scowled at the journalist, oozing intimidation, "When I wanna say something, I'll say it."

"Look, Cole, we see where you're going, ok? We hear everything you guys are saying, we read everything that's being written. Ok? We know what you guys are thinking, but we're not renegades, we're not mercenaries, we're not the Nexus; if you're looking for the NWO, go buy the DVD. We're about principle, we're about honour. Where honour no longer exists, we're gonna step in. It's like he said: we're a shield from injustice," Ambrose looked across at his teammates, "We're a shield from injustice," he turned back to Cole, "We are a shield."

"Ok, so -"

"Hey, I got something to say," Reigns interrupted Cole, getting to his feet, "We said enough. This interview's over, man."

And with that, they stood up, detached their microphones, and left.

The wrestlers around the monitor began to buzz with conversation. A few of them were looking at Lori expectantly, including Kaitlyn and AJ.

She stood there for a moment, processing everything that they had said over and over in her head. Finally, she broke the tension, shaking her mass of blonde locks.

"No, no, they can't do this. I'm not going to let those bastards scare me."

And with that, she spun on her heel and began to march down the corridor.

"Where are you going?" Kaitlyn called after her.

"I've got a match!" she shouted over her shoulder, "And I've got something to say to those messed-up morons."

After the commercial break, Lori was stood in the middle of the ring, the red X on her neck showing through strands of hair. She stood with her back straight, a look of angry determination on her face, twizzling a microphone in her hand. At the signal of the timekeeper, she looked directly at the camera and began her promo.

"So, you all just saw what the so-called 'Shield' had to say. You probably all remember how they interrupted my match last week. But I'm not going to stand here and let them get away with their 'warning'. They had no good reason to do what they did last week. They have no principle or honour. They are not against injustice; they create it. The only reason they attacked Ryback was because they're jealous of how good he is, because they can't deal with being kept in the shadow that is NXT because _they're not good enough._

"Last week, I proved that I'm not the type to just hide in the corner. Ryback, if you're listening, don't come out to help me; I can handle myself. I'm a big girl. Punk, if you choose to listen to the ridiculous gossip that goes around this place then go ahead, but you'll always be the biggest prat on this planet. Shield, if you want to fight me, then go ahead and try, but Ambrose, you psychopathic freak; you will _never _succeed in frightening me. It's going to take a lot more than a creepy stare and a hollow threat to do that."

The microphone landed with a bump on the mat. She headed to her corner to warm-up for her match as the crowd cheered and the commentators debated about whether that had been a good idea or not.

Her opponent's music started and Tamina came out to the stage and began to make her way down to the ring, looking intimidating. But Lori was ready. She was too frustrated to feel intimidated by Superfly's daughter.

As their match stared, Lori immediately had the upper-hand. All of her infuriation gave her the energy which she used to half-destroy Tamina but all too soon, her motivation was lost and she found herself getting the same treatment from the older woman. She was cornered, exhaustion forcing her muscles to collapse. Her damp hair hung in her face as she received elbow after elbow to her chest and finally a boot to her stomach.

Her knees slammed to the mat, followed closely by her hands. Before she could even try to struggle to her feet, Tamina pushed her down so that she was lying on her front. With disconcerting strength, Snuka dragged her to the centre of the ring and rolled her onto her back.

She did not have to see to know what was happening. Tamina was climbing the turnbuckle, and she was straightening up ready for the Superfly Splash.

But instead of the thud of a body landing on top of another, she heard the thud of feet landing on the mat and then the ring shook as several more feet climbed up onto the apron. A spark of panic shot through Lori's spine as she realised what was happening. Tamina had retreated, and more people had arrived. That could only mean one thing: The Shield.

Her body ached as she forced herself to sit up. She was right. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns stood around the ring, circling her on three sides. She scrambled to the ropes behind her, trying to find the strength to fight for herself. The three of them put one foot through the ropes and climbed in, keeping their eyes locked on their prey.

Deep breaths hurt and her hands shook the ropes as she hauled herself to her feet. She leant against them for support as she stood there, watching and waiting as the Shield stepped closer and closer.

A sudden anger ignited in her mind, and something snapped, creating a gateway that let all of her frustration flow through.

"Well, come on then!" she yelled at their determined faces, "Are you just gonna stand and stare or actually do something?"

They looked at each other, dark smirks forming on their faces as they were brought one more step closer, into touching distance. They literally blocked any escape she had, casting their shadow over hers, apart from the ropes behind her which seemed to be calling her name in a very tempting voice with a beckoning finger. But she had told them that she was not a coward and she planned to prove it.

Ambrose took one step closer, "Do we have the choice? Because I think staring would be equally as... pleasurable as destroying you."

"You know you're sick, right?" she spat, "All of you – you're just sick. What gives you the right to do this? What makes you think you have the right to terrorise and attack innocent people?"

"Innocent?" Seth repeated with a sneer, getting even closer than Ambrose was to her, "You're the least innocent person on this roster! What gives _you _the right to walk around backstage like the queen, expecting everything to be handed to you on a platter whilst you disrespect CM Punk and you disrespect us? You've proven to every Superstar in the locker room just how innocent you aren't."

"So maybe I'm not," she agreed, her voice low and rich in threats, "But I'm still a hell of a lot better than you, you bunch of dishonourable, talentless pricks."

Their glaring was enough to send a grown-man running, but all she did was glare right back. Until it became too much, and she acted. Right there and then, in the time span of a single second, she hit the Siren Screecher right to Seth Rollins' face.

And they were on her like a pack of hungry wolves, all over her as she lay helpless on the mat, trying to curl herself into a protective ball whilst they stomped, kicked, punched, hit, and basically tore her apart. It seemed to go on forever until they finally backed off and the pain seemed to burn her muscles like fire.

She felt hands lift her deadweight up. Her arms were heaved over two pairs of shoulders which she automatically clutched for support. Hands grabbed the back of her thighs and in her half-unconscious state, she felt herself being lifted up so that her legs were balanced on someone else's shoulders. She was only dimly aware that this was not someone helping her. Just as she felt their weight begin to shift for the triple-powerbomb, they were interrupted by a familiar voice blasting around the arena.

"Feed. Me. More."

She thought it would stop them, but it did not. Her back slammed to the mat with so much force that her head bounced off the mat and everything went black for a few seconds.

A weight thudded against the mat beside her. She cringed, thinking that her hero had fallen victim yet again, but instead, a hand touched her face and she heard Ryback's voice beside her.

"Lori? Lori, can you hear me? Lori?"

She wrenched her eyelids open with effort, and blurrily saw him kneeling next to her. He slid his arms under her back and carefully lifted her up, carrying her out of the ring and down the ramp to safety.

The locker room was fairly full when she entered a few minutes later.

"That was awesome, Lori," Celeste grinned, "You looked dead."

Lori smiled tiredly, lifting her bag over her head and dropping it with the rest of her belongings. She began to rummage through her athletics bag, "I think that's the closest to zombification I've ever got."

"Do you have another segment later?"

"Yeah, but it's only short and I finally get to beat The Shield up... for a while," her train of thought suddenly switched as she frowned in her bag, "Where is it?" she muttered to herself.

"Where's what?"

"My phone," Lori answered, still bending over her bag, creating a mad mess of clothes, tissues, books, random papers and makeup all around her.

"There," Celeste pointed to the top of Lori's designated locker.

Looking up, she found that it was, in fact, sitting there quite smugly. It was not a smart phone; just one of the newer old Samsung ones that only texted, called and played some music. She frowned as she reached up, "I can't even remember putting it there."

Celeste shrugged and turned away as someone called her name.

Lori looked at her screen to find that she had a text.

'Meet me at parking lot after show. Need to talk. –C'

It was from Colby. She typed in a reply but it refused to send. She really needed to top-up her credit. When you travelled pretty much every day, being able to contact people was a necessity. She figured that she didn't need to reply anyway; she would just turn up.

Her next segment wasn't for a while so she took a long, hot shower to ease her aching muscles. She was used to the ache and pain of hard work after years of training. She normally spent at least an hour of every day in some kind of pain.

After drying her hair and changing back into her ring gear, she grabbed some makeup and wandered over to the monitor where she began to apply it, absent-mindedly watching what was happening in the ring. Rey Mysterio beat Daniel Bryan. Punk appeared on the screen, somewhere backstage, muttering with Heyman. Her attention perked up.

Matt Striker nervously approached them as they glared.

"Paul, Punk, do you have a minute?"

They looked down their noses at him. He took that as a yes.

"What is your response to what Loriana had to say to you earlier tonight?"

"To me?" Punk repeated, "Did she say anything to me? I wasn't listening. I thought she had her hands full with The Shield."

Heyman held a hand up to Punk, "Let me handle this. I know what this is. Miss Romdel is clearly infatuated. Even when she has bigger things to worry about, she obviously can't keep her mind off of the WWE Champion. And as much as I hate to break your heart, Miss Romdel, I'm afraid CM Punk just isn't that into you. He isn't into the pathetic slutty types."

Punk was smirking.

Striker, looking somewhat shocked, brought the microphone back to himself as his interviewees walked away, muttering to each other again, "Thank you."

At the monitor, Lori smiled. So that was her reason for running out at the end of his match. She had been wondering – although she was surprised that the word 'slutty' was allowed on PG television.

Later that night, she stood behind the curtain, fresh and ready to go do some wrestling. She still felt beat up from earlier but energy was trickling through her veins, slowly filling her up. Her attention was fully on the monitor as she watched Kane hold Punk ready for the tombstone.

Daniel Bryan stood beside her, also watching.

"You and Punk are equal right?" he asked. He was referring to the finisher-count. Punk must have told him about their little competition – they were friends after all.

She smirked, "Not after tonight."

He laughed, "He's not gonna be happy."

"He'll live."

And then it was time. The Shield were stalking the ring. Punk hid at a turnbuckle, leaving Kane to face 'justice' in the centre of the ring. They launched themselves at him, stomping any limb they could find as the Big Red Monster cowered in the corner. Punk slid away to safety, not even looking twice at the beat-down. The Shield continued to beat him down. Ambrose pressed his boot against his throat and Reigns followed so that they both pressed harder and harder against Kane's neck.

But then Daniel and Lori were there, running through the curtain. Punk and Heyman were already around the other side of the ring before she got there, but she changed her plan halfway down the ramp.

She and Daniel slid into the ring simultaneously. The Shield jumped them, ramming them into the turnbuckles. Elbows, fists and feet flew everywhere. Lori flailed out with her fists and knees, hoping to hit anyone but the only person she ended up kneeing was herself. Someone grabbed her hair and threw her to the mat.

Ambrose was above her, a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face as he threw punches. As she flinched and cringed like a good little girl, she took a moment to assess her situation. She was lying on her back with Ambrose almost straddling her stomach, except he was on one knee instead of two. Wiping away any distracting thoughts, she planned her escape in the space of a second.

She just had to wriggle a little and then the setup was perfect. Her knee was thrust up and away he fell, writhing around with his hands where the agony was sourced. She rolled over, imitating his previous position and grabbed his hair, pushing his head into the mat again and again. But a boot caught her ear and she fell again. Hands grabbed her arms and dragged her up before throwing her down again. Her head bounced off of the edge of the ring so that she was staring at the white ropes that danced above her.

Reigns' boot pushed against her neck, shoving her head back into an uncomfortable hanging position. She felt her throat crushing in on itself. Her breaths came out rough and jagged and painful, with horrible heaving sounds. In front of her eyes, upside-down, CM Punk and Heyman stood and taunted her. They laughed as they imitated her bulging eyes and rasping breaths that were rapidly fading away along with her vision.

But suddenly, although they were becoming blurrier with every passing second, their mocking grins dropped and they darted away over the barrier, but not before Punk had sarcastically blown her a kiss over his shoulder. At the same time the pressure on her throat disappeared and she lay there, still hanging over the edge of the ring, choking and rubbing her red neck.

She could hear the crowd booing and the mat was shaking with the bumps and heavy footsteps of the wrestlers, making her limp body jump around. Still trying to get her breath back, she struggled to a sitting position. Ryback was being torn apart. He had come to her rescue yet again. Why did she always put herself into these situations?

But suddenly, he threw them away and their tightly woven pack burst. Seth fell and tripped over her. She seized the opportunity by clambering to her feet and grabbing the rope, using its leverage to support her as she kicked him repeatedly. Someone tried to grab her from behind but she spun and leapt, crushing Reigns' face to her knees with the Siren Screecher. Bodies were flying everywhere as she and Ryback destroyed The Shield.

It was short-lived. Punk reappeared with a cheap clothesline to the back of Ryback's skull. Ryback stumbled. Before he had even turned to face his attacker, Lori was already in his face.

"You're disgusting," she spat.

"I'm not the one fucking Ryback."

"Excuse me? And you think you're better than him?" she sneered, "You're nothing but a prat, Punk. You're not worth any of this. You're not worth the title, you're not worth my attention; you're not even worthy enough to be in this ring."

His nostrils flared. He began to raise his fist but she slapped it away with so much force that her palm tingled like it was being bitten by tiny creatures. Now was the time. She prepared herself. He could see it in her face and she could see it in his. She was going to hit him with the Siren Screecher –

A spear caught her directly in the stomach, slamming her to the mat. Dean grinned darkly down at her but was kicked away by Ryback. But her freedom was short-lived because Reigns then speared him too, and The Shield swarmed them both. Bruise-blossoming attacks hit her again and again until she couldn't take it anymore and managed to roll out of the ring, falling to the floor.

In the ring, The Shield lifted Ryback into the air and powerbombed him. Everyone was knocked out. Punk escaped the ring again and looked wearily at The Shield as they stood all mighty in the centre of the ring over Ryback's broken body.

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_**(A/N): **__Ok, I know that was a lot of reading, so you probably don't have much time left to do whatever you have to do. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. But you know, once you've forgiven me, do you think you could possibly drop a review, or even just click the lil' follow/favourite button? I'd love you forever... I know I probably have some lurkers out there. Come on over to the review, or even private message, and introduce yourself! I don't bite; I love you too!_

_Also, I'm really struggling on writing the next chapter. What would you like to see happen? Looks like Lori and Colby have some talking to do - how do you think that'll go? And what other situations should I throw my lovely lil' characters into? Mwahahaha! Writing is fun; you get to ruin lives without the risk of arrest!_

_Anyway, I guess this is the end. Go grab a cup of tea or coffee or whatever you like, or something. Eat some chocolate too; you deserve it._

_Happy Valentine's day for tomorrow!_

_Love from Beth :-) xx_


	4. Chapter 4

_**(A/N):**__ First of all, I'm really, really, really sorry that this has taken so long to be uploaded. My reasoning is a stressful personal life and bad writer's block. That is why this chapter is pretty short compared to the others, but I felt like I needed to get it out to keep you all satisfied. I absolutely love reading your reviews and talking to you. I hope you enjoy this. Although this chapter is short, I feel like it is important. Enjoy!_

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**Chapter Four – ****_Remembering Things Forgotten_**

_"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart." ~ _Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Bruise-blossoming kicks. Definitely bruise blossoming.

It hadn't been that their kicks had been stiff; it was mostly Lori's fault for not reacting as well as she was taught. She put that down to tiredness. And even though bruises came with the business, she still made an effort to hide the battle scar on her cheekbone. She didn't usually bother, but seeing as she was meeting Colby...

She was dressed in blue jeans and a white tank top which she had shrugged a cardigan over before lugging her bags out of the locker room towards the parking lot. Her converse squeaked on the floor but she wasn't paying attention to that. All she was thinking was 'ouch, ouch, ouch', 'bed, bed, bed' and 'why does he want to talk to me anyway?'

When she got there, she found him leaning against the wall, waiting. The sky was darkening and he stood almost as a shadow. His silhouette showed that he was wearing a cap and jumper with his hair tied up.

The air was carrying a chill but she swatted it away as a fluttering of nerves warmed her insides up. At the sound of her approach, he looked up and a smile tugged at his lips.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"What?" she frowned, "But you were the one who -"

Then it made sense.

"Kaitlyn."

"What about her?"

"She sent the texts. When we were in the ring, she must have stolen our phones and sent texts so that we would talk to each other."

"Why would she want us to talk to each other?"

Lori ran a nervous hand through her fringe, "Well... I told her it's stupid... but she wants us to get back together."

"Why's that stupid?"

"Well... I mean..." a thousand words staggered through her brain but she couldn't pick out a single one, "It's – it's not that it's _stupid; _it's just that we – we broke up years ago. We wouldn't – we wouldn't just get back together."

Colby smiled at her loss of words but shook his head, changing the subject, "Sorry about the bruise."

She raised a hand to it absent-mindedly, "It's fine. I'm used to it. Is Jon ok after I kneed him?"

For a split-second, his smile faded but before she could notice it in the dark, it was replaced by a smirk, "He'll live. Not sure if his future children will, but still."

She laughed and his smile brightened again at the sound.

"Hey, Lori," Speak of the devil, "Are you ok?"

Roman Reigns – or rather, Joe Anoa'i – and Jon had just approached us; the latter of whom was looking at the bruise on her cheek, which clearly was not as hidden by makeup as she had wanted, even in the dark. She ducked her head, blushing.

"Fine."

"Sure?"

"Honestly, I'm good."

He nodded, "Do you want a ride to the hotel?"

"Erm..." she looked across the parking lot for Punk's bus and found it waiting for her as usual, "No thanks; already got one."

"Ok. Would'ya mind starting up the car for us, Colby?" there was a jingling sound as Jon threw a set of keys to Colby, which he caught with ease.

Joe nodded, "I'll come too."

There was a flash of defiance in Colby's eyes as he hesitated, not wanting to leave Lori and Jon alone, but knowing that they clearly wanted to be. She obviously believed that he and she were very much finished, and Jon was his friend so denying him a chance with her was wrong. Therefore, with an internal sigh, he left them to whatever they wanted to be left to do.

Lori watched as Colby slowly walked away. For a moment she felt a weight in her stomach, but then she turned to Jon whose blue eyes had returned to their intense, penetrating gaze. Heat crept to her face as he studied the bruise on her cheek. His hand raised and he carefully stroked his thumb against the purple that shone beneath her pathetic attempt at makeup.

"Honestly, Jon, I'm -"

Suddenly, he dropped his hand and a smirk appeared on his mouth, "At least someone got you back for neutering me."

"Yeah... sorry about that," she said with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," he shook his head, "So, what did you want to talk to Colby about?"

She frowned, "I didn't," when his expression remained the same, she corrected herself, "I mean, not that I didn't want to talk to him, just that _I_ didn't wantto talk to him... no, I mean..."

He chuckled, "I get it," he glanced over to where Colby and Joe were getting into the car. Colby looked back. "I should go. Joe'll cut a promo on me if I keep him waiting. See you whenever."

With the flash of a grin and a wave of his hand, he was jogging away.

"Yeah, bye," Lori said, with a small wave to his back.

She shook her head slightly. That was strange. All of her interactions with the Shield members seemed to be strange. As they revved their car engine, she heaved up her bags and began to cross the street-lamp lit parking lot to Punk's bus.

"What was that about?" he asked as she closed the door behind her.

"I was just talking to them," she shrugged as if she hadn't been fretting over what she would say and how she looked before setting out to meet Colby. Punk knew about her previous relationship with him, of course, but he had always been a little... iffy when it came to her and men.

She dumped her bags on the little table where Punk was sitting and crashed on the sofa beside Kofi Kingston who was playing some kind of zombie-killing game on the Xbox. Punk put down his Pepsi can and frowned at her.

"Lori, be careful around those guys, ok? You know Dean has a reputation with women, and it's not good."

"Dean?" She blinked, "I was just talking to him, I swear. There's nothing going on with us."

He raised a sceptical eyebrow, "I saw you two on the plane. You went red when he spoke to you – don't think you can try to fool me, Lori, because I probably know you better than even you do, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Phil, I'm a fucking grown woman!" she snapped, frustration pulling her back to her feet, "I know when I'm going to get hurt, and I'm not stupid enough to let it carry on."

"Oh yeah? So you've changed a lot since we first met, have you?"

Anger burst from her stomach. With a shriek that held a million curse words, she turned on her heel and marched away to the tiny bus bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Kofi looked from the door to his friend, confused.

Punk shook his head, "She'll get over it."

"She has a point though, Phil. Maybe she doesn't need you judging her decisions all the time."

"Maybe," he sighed, looking away, "I just don't want to risk it. You didn't see how she was when she first came to America, man."

Lori and Punk were still not talking when they reached the next hotel. As they took their bags, refusing to even glance at each other, Kofi attempted to lighten the atmosphere.

"Hey, Lori, you looking forward to Smackdown? You've got a match, right?"

"Who the hell knows?" she muttered, "The only way we hear things around here is through stupid rumours and 'reputations'."

Punk slammed his bag onto the floor with unnecessary force.

Kofi cleared his throat, "Well, erm – I heard you're gonna be facing Alicia. That's cool, right?"

With a grunted response, she heaved her bag onto her shoulder and began walking towards the hotel. That was until Punk stopped her.

"Hey!" he bellowed, storming up to her, "Don't talk to Kofi like that! Have some respect! By all means be mad at me for whatever the fuck I've done, but don't take it out on him. He's done nothing to you!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, Phil?!" Lori dropped her bags with a crash, "Just because you helped me once does _not_ mean that you have the right to control the rest of my life. You don't know me! You don't know anything about me beyond what you've seen! You don't even know the name of my brother, so how the hell do you have any idea what's better for me than I do?"

He yelled, "Because I do, Lori!"

Before she could do anything, a new voice interrupted.

"Am I interrupting something?" the deep voice of Joe Anoa'i asked.

As Lori answered "no", she glared across at Phil who simultaneously answered "yes".

"No, we're done here," Lori clarified, picking up he bags and turning to walk away from the seething Punk. Joe had to take long strides to match her quick pace.

For a while, neither said anything but just before they reached the hotel doors, she broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Is there something you wanted?"

"I just thought you looked like you needed some help."

She faltered, "Oh. Well, I didn't... but thanks, I guess."

He nodded and again, there was a moment of silence.

"Actually there was something." In the lobby, she looked at him, waiting. She was not in the mood for more drama. She just wanted to go to sleep. "I was just wondering what's going on between you and Jon."

She frowned, "Why don't you ask him?"

"I did. He said 'nothing'."

"So why don't you believe him?"

He grinned, "Because he's a lying bastard?"

It was almost impossible to keep from chuckling at that, despite her exhaustion and frustration. Of all people, Roman Reigns was the last person she thought she would hear that from.

Once she had her room key, she hoped that he would leave it at that but Fate didn't seem to like her that night.

"So what's going on?"

"I..." she hesitated, considering whether she should just lie and head to bed happy. But she knew that she wouldn't be going to bed happy no matter what she said. She played with the strap of her bag awkwardly, "I don't really know. I mean... we're just friends, obviously. At the most. We work together, we're colleagues; it'd be wrong to be anything else."

She hoped he would somehow believe her but by the look on his face, that was not the case. Despite that, he nodded.

"Well, goodnight, Loriana," he said, heading back to the hotel room that he was sharing with his stable mates.

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_**(A/N): **__Don't forget to favourite/follow/review. I calmly await your lovely feedback._

_Love from Beth :-) xx_


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